Posted on 09/09/2007 6:36:38 AM PDT by shove_it
... the Model T was a piece of junk, the Yugo of its day...
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Where’s the Ford Mustang II? I had one in college, it was a gutless wonder, handled like a cow on ice, and almost put a stake in the mustang line.
“Ever since those fools allowed the serfs to talk back the world went to hell.”
Yep the world was better when we little people were on the farm tending our flocks and never going more than ten miles from home in our lifetimes. LOL!
The Model T,????This guy obviously has never driven one. Pound for pound , it’s the most fun car ever built.....kind of like having you own personal carnival ride.....a true hoot.
I had a Fiat 850; my first car. Back in the late ‘60s, it cycled like this...The car would break-down. It was towed to Tony’s. He’d have to order the part. Three weeks later, he’d fix it, and take my money.
A week later, it was something else and we’d begin again.
A friend who knew of all my problems with the car, nonetheless bought it from me for a few cases of beer and a bag of weed.
The next day, I introduced him to Tony.
no mention of the Chrysler “K” cars
“Time magazine publishes drivel.”
exactly!....and check out the Edsel review....they just gotta get in the anti-war Vietnam comments too.
a lot of these cars were in no way main stream....they didn’t represent the industry or the automotive public.
as others have remarked, the Model T review was a sham....for ease of repair and owner maintainence the T was very successful...many owners kept them running for years....my grandfather ran his during WW II when gas was hard to get...
“Any list of the worst cars without the Vega shouldn’t be taken seriously. Those cars were made of compressed rust just waiting for the paint to fall off.”
Hey, the motor didn’t rust! The job of that motor was to lube the entire car with oil (blown out the rear main seal) so rust was slowed considerably...
The Vega ran just fine with a SBC (small block Chevy) under the hood.
Russian “cars” like the Tatra were uniformly cursed even by the East Germans, Poles, and Slovaks.....
At least the Yugo ran. Most of the time.
“They work just fine w/ a good God-fearing GM V-6 in their butts....”
You should try one with a Chevy Small block, the L98 for example. :)
USA Today just did a 10 Worst cars article. Ever notice nobody ever does a 100 best cars essay?
“1981 Dodge Colt.”
Hmmm... my ‘80 Turbo Colt was more fun than a man should have after he’s married. Maybe that new body style was junk?
Loved that turbo rush... the smell of my tires going up in smoke...
Heaven forbid women be able to buy cars/SUV’s that they actually LIKE!!!!
This author is clearly a tree hugging Nazi. “Greens struck back by torching a dealership.” That is a crime, asshat. That is not a protest.
This author is clearly a tree hugging Nazi. “Greens struck back by torching a dealership.” That is a crime, asshat. That is not a protest.
“The Pinto, and the Mustang II, were the greatest source of donor parts to the hot rod crowd of all time.”
I had forgotten about that. I’m beginning restoration a ‘66 Mustang and will be using Mustang II parts for my disk brake conversion.
“The next day, I introduced him to Tony.”
BWHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
Oh, Lord that was funny!
Uh, didn’t the 850 feature the motor that you could lift out of the car w/o a hoist, and rebuild on your kitchen table?
The author is not entirely wrong to include the T in the “worst” category. But only in its latter years. Here’s why:
When the T was introduced in 1908 it was an advanced car in every aspect, especially value. The T by far brought more horsepower per dollar than any other car, and it would continue to offer this incredible value for another 10-12 years. In 1908, the T was the only 4-cylinder, 4-passenger car offered for under $1000. At $850 it wasn’t cheap, but it was the best VALUE.
Where the author gets it right is that the Model T stayed almost the same car for the next 18 years. Ford’s advanced vision of 1908 had by the 1920s become tired. In 1926, when Ford realized he’d gone too far with too little, GM and others had well captued the VALUE race and were offering far much more car per dollar than the T. By that time, the T was selling on price, habit, and anachronism alone. It was, then, a truly awful car.
It had also become the socialist dream machine. During the 30’s FDR’s idiot socialist Secretary of Labor, Francis Perkins, decided that the cars Americans wanted to buy, and were buying, were too sophisticated for the New Deal. She demanded no more seasonal changes and more standardization (a.k.a. the planned economy). In 1934, she said, “This industry has accepted standardization for one year periods,” she said, “but must extend its practices to include standardization over a period of years... I am old-fashioned enough still to admire the old Model T Ford.”
Thank God for the consumer.
Some of the 80’s utilitarian cars were bare bones. Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant K, Chevrolet Celebrity, Chevrolet Citation, although I recall them having a sporty model that wasn’t too bad X-11?
Written by a typical brain dead New York, New Yorker, who thinks you can take the subway to anywhere in America. No wonder they elect carpetbaggers.
The T looked spindly and almost incongruous putting down the road and through mud flats but they used high quality spring steel and good strong axles. They were *tough*, much more than they looked and many a man got his start with all kinds of enterprises with an AFFORDABLE car and reliable power source takeoff “PTO” with the T.
Time magazine writers are idiots if they cannot acknowledge this.
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